How I think through a floor plan
A designer's account of how a house plan actually comes together: the variations, the sightlines, the trade-offs, and the moment it finally works.
Journal
Planning an Elevator in an Elevated Coastal House
What to settle before building: the shaft and the landings, the pit, overhead above the top landing, and the permit and rental rules worth asking about.
What Makes a House Plan Low Country
Raised foundations, deep porches, metal roofs and a long narrow footprint. What actually defines the Low Country style, how it answers a coastal lot, and ten plans drawn in Charleston that show the parts in place.
How I Became a House Designer
Barbie houses made from carpet samples, The Sims at two in the morning, and floor plans drawn in the margins during class. How I found out that designing houses was a real job, and the path that got me there.
How to Read a Floor Plan
A floor plan is a horizontal slice through the house, taken about four feet above the floor. Once you know that, most of the conventions on the sheet explain themselves. What the dimension strings mean, which sheet answers which question, and the two-minute check to run before you get attached to a plan.
What My Plan Set Doesn't Include, and What You Buy Locally
Stamps, site plans, engineered framing, mechanical and plumbing are not in any stock plan set, from anyone. What is missing, who provides each item locally, and the questions to ask your building department before you spend anything.
How I Think Through a Floor Plan
How a coastal house plan actually gets designed. Starting from an earlier plan rather than a blank sheet, walking the house in 3D before it exists, and the competing priorities that decide where the stairs land and which room wins.
